Mike Brown to Metta: 'If you're going to shoot ...'

Mike Brown told his designated bench spark Metta World Peace after his 0-for-8 shooting outing in the exhibition opener Monday night: "If you're going to shoot that much, you've got to make 'em."

World Peace was still cold in the next game Wednesday night, but he rallied a bit to finish 4 for 13 from the field.

Brown said World Peace is adjusting to finding his shooting rhythm coming off the bench, but the plan remains for World Peace to do a lot of shooting and posting up with the Lakers' second unit this season.

"I have faith in him," Brown said.

With World Peace coming off the bench, Brown is picking between Matt Barnes and Devin Ebanks as the starting small forward ahead of him. Brown said his plan is for the starter there is to minimize mistakes and not take opportunities away from the Lakers' big guns.

Brown has said previously that Barnes' experience will be a factor, but Barnes had four turnovers in 11 minutes of play Wednesday night -- including a critical late-game offensive foul charging into Blake Griffin with 16.2 seconds left and the Lakers losing, 104-101.

It worked for Griffin, as he got the call, but his reputation as a flopper continues to grow.

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